CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No.9 Virginia baseball team (20-5) will open a four-game road swing with a midweek contest against former ACC foe Maryland (11-12) in Fredericksburg, Va., at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX
Listen: WINA (98.9 FM/1090 AM)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com
Probable Starting Pitchers:
TUESDAY – 5:35 PM
Maryland: RHP Nic Morlang (2-2, 8.10 ERA, 16.2 IP, 15 BB, 12 SO)
Virginia: RHP Jayden Stroman (0-0, 2.70 ERA, 16.2 IP, 13 BB, 21 SO)
LEADING OFF
- After winning back-to-back ACC series at home, the Virginia Cavaliers will hit the road for the week, starting with a neutral-site midweek contest against Maryland.
- Tuesday’s game at Virginia Credit Union Stadium will be the second of three minor league stadiums that Virginia is slated to play in this season, with the other two being Atrium Health Ballpark (Kannapolis, N.C.) and Truist Field (Charlotte, N.C.).
- Entering the midweek, Virginia is averaging 10 runs per game, which ranks sixth nationally and fourth in the league behind Georgia Tech, Miami, and Pittsburgh. Overall, UVA has scored the fourth-most runs in the country at 251.
- The power surge has been powered by 46 home runs through the first 25 games of the season. The 46 dingers rank seventh nationally and second in the ACC. In 2025, the Cavaliers did not hit their 46th home run of the year until game 39.
AGAINST MARYLAND
- In a series that dates back to 1899, Virginia and Wake Forest have met 194 previous times, with the Cavaliers leading the all-time series 113-80-1.
- The longtime ACC foes had not played each other in a decade before the 2025 meeting in Fredericksburg that saw Virginia walk off Maryland with a wild pitch.
- Before last season’s dramatic contest, UVA and Maryland had not played on the baseball diamond since the 2015 Charlottesville Super Regional, when Virginia swept the Terrapins en route to the program’s first national championship.
ON THE MOUND
- For the fifth consecutive midweek, Jayden Stroman will get the ball for UVA in a midweek.
- In his 10 appearances this season, Stroman is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings with 21 strikeouts.
- As a starter, Storman has allowed two earned runs in eight innings of work and has fanned nine batters.
- Out of the bullpen, grad student Lucas Hartman is tied for second in the nation with 15 appearances and 28th with a 1.47 ERA, while Tyler Kapa’s four saves are good enough for 17th nationally.
RANKING THE HOOS
- After the first 25 games of the 2026 campaign, Virginia ranks top 40 nationally in multiple categories including walks (166/2nd), hits (245/31st), home runs (46/7th), home runs per game (1.84/13th), runs (223/9th), scoring (10/6th) and slugging percentage (.520/ 31th).
DEFORESTATION AT THE DISH
- For its seventh-straight ACC series win dating back to the end of the 2025 season, Virginia took two of three from the then-No. 24 Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
- With the series win, UVA improves to 38-12 in the last 50 games that the Cavaliers have played on the baseball diamond.
- In the series opener, Kyle Johnson made his UVA debut on the mound and set the tone with an electric 10-pitch inning. In the bottom of the frame, the Virginia offense exploded for five runs and cruised to a 10-6 victory.
- Sunday’s rubber match saw Virginia collect its eighth come-from-behind victory behind another offensive eruption and 4.2 shutout relief innings from the bullpen duo of Noah Yoder and Lucas Hartman.
CLASH POINT SECURED
- For the opening home weekend of ACC play, Virginia took two of three games from in-commonwealth rival Virginia Tech at Disharoon Park.
- In game one, UVA rode a career-high performance from Henry Zatkowski as the lefty fanned 10 Hokies. The Virginia office exploded for eight runs over the middle third to take the series opener.
- To claim the series, four different Cavaliers homered, led by Sam Harris, who did it twice, as Virginia got a trio of shutdown innings from Kevin Jaxel and Noah Yoder in relief.
- The Saturday series clincher gave Virginia a share of the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash. UVA exited the weekend leading 11-4, with seven sports remaining.
CAROLINA CONQUERED
- For the opening weekend of ACC play, Virginia took two of three games from No. 8 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels 29-13 during the weekend set.
- In game one, UVA rode monster offensive performances from Harrison Didawick, Noah Murray and Eric Becker to a 13-3 victory in seven innings. Henry Zatkowski held North Carolina to five hits over 5.1 innings of work.
- To claim the series, Max Stammel had his best game in a Virginia uniform, surrendering one run in six innings. Zach Jackson and Sam Harris each homered in the 9-2 victory.
SPRING CLEANING
- On the third weekend of the season, Virginia swept the VCU Rams in a three-game series that saw the first two games played at Disharoon Park with the finale at The Diamond in Richmond.
- UVA took the series opener by a score of 5-3 and was powered by a career-high eight-strikeout performance by Henry Zatkowski and a leadoff home run from Eric Becker.
- Saturday’s game two saw UVA win its first walk of the season as the Cavaliers won 7-6 in 11 innings. AJ Gracia homered while Eric Becker was in the middle of the game-tying play in the ninth and the walk-off in the 11th.
- Sunday’s series finale included eight innings of one-run ball from the freshman trio of John Paone, Noah Yoder and Jayden Stroman. Gracia, Sam Harris and Zach Jackson all homered to secure the sweep.
FUN IN THE SUN
- For the first road trip of the 2026 season, Virginia headed south for a round robin tournament hosted by Stetson. The Hoos dismantled the Monmouth Hawks on Friday before falling in walk-off fashion to Stetson on Saturday. UVA rode late-inning heroics to a victory over North Dakota State in the weekend finale on Sunday.
- On Friday, the Hoos smashed seven home runs en route to a 21-8 win over Monmouth. The seven dingers were the most by UVA in a game since hitting eight against George Washington in 2024.
- In the weekend opener against Monmouth, the UVA trio of Noah Murray, Sam Harris and AJ Gracia each hit multiple home runs, becoming the first trio of Cavaliers to hit multiple home runs in the same game this century.
BREAKING IN THE NEW VIDEO BOARD
- To accompany the debuts on Davenport Field, a new state-of-the-art video board also made its debut on opening weekend, displaying plenty of content.
- Over the course of the opening weekend, UVA plated 69 runners in three games—the most ever in a three-game stretch to start a season. The previous high was set in 1889, when the baseball team representing the University of Virginia scored 59 runs in the first three games ever played.
- The weekend was capped off by a 31-8 victory in the Saturday nightcap. The 31 runs broke the previous program for most runs in a game, which was when the Hoos dropped 29 runs on Niagara in 2007.
- Crozet native Noah Murray broke the run record with a three-run blast in the eighth inning. With the home run, Murray became the 15th Cavalier to score five times in the same time.
- Chris Pollard became just the third head coach in program history to win his first three games. The other two coaches were H.H. Lannigan in 1918 and Brian O’Connor in 2004.